Horning in on good soccer in Morton – Horner sisters have one last
JUSTIN PHELPS
MORTON – Caitie and Lacey Horner have done this before.
Playing on the same soccer team is nothing new for the sisters from Morton.
The new stuff starts next year, when senior Caitie Horner leaves her sophomore sibling Lacey to go to Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee.
Between now and then they have one more season of high school soccer, and intend to make the most of the eighth straight year they’ve been on the same team.
“We’re probably not going to go to the same college,” said Lacey, a forward who had 20 goals last season. “So it would be good to do well this year since (the team has) the talent to do well.”
The Horners first played on the same team with the Morton Blaze eight years ago. Since then, they’ve also played with the Peoria Soccer Club and the Chicago Jr. Fire, and the time they spent together shows on the pitch.
“I think maybe we’ll see more of that this year,” Morton coach Brian Deters said of the Horner sisters’ ability to find one another on the field and work together so well. “We’re going to try to get Caitie more involved offensively than I have in the past.”
Deters said that was the plan last year but Caitie suffered from turf toe, a sprained ankle, tendinitis in her left knee and a pulled hip flexor. Despite the setbacks, she still earned JS all-area team honors as a defender. And the Potters finished first in the Mid- Illini Conference with a 14-8 overall record, 11-1 in league play.
Caitie’s goal for the season is to stay injury free. She and Lacey agree repeating conference champ is important to the team.
To win the league as favorite, they’ll rely on the familiarity with each other – and with the team, since many of the players play club soccer together.
“It makes me more comfortable (to have Lacey on the field) because I don’t think where she’s going to be,” said Caitie, a three-time first-team M-I all-conference selection. “I know where she’ll be and how she plays, but I know that with most of the girls.”
It works the other way too. Lacey said she often finds Caitie coming in behind the play.
“We call it the trash girl,” said Lacey, an all-conference first- teamer last season. “She’s the one that comes in behind the runners and if I mess up my cross, she’s the one that’s there.”
They compliment each other with opposing styles of play.
“They’re both very different as far as their personalities,” said Deters. “Lacey’s more of a go-through-the-play type, a hard-nosed player while Caitie’s more of a technition of sort. She’s good on the ball and creative. They’re a great compliment for each other.”
Copyright 2004
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